Cham Imperial Ruins

I visited the ruins of an imperial Cham city called ‘My Son’ today, about 35 kilometers outside of Hoi An. The complex was built in the 4th century AD. It’s was in reasonably good repair, although it is said that American B-52s carpet bombed the place in August of 1969.

I took about a hundred photos and posted the best of them, or at least some of the best of them at Flickr. You can see them here. The complex is very Hindu. I was a bit surprised by this, although I really shouldn’t have been. I expected it to be more Buddhist in design. None the less, it was a pleasant surprise. I’ll blog at greater length about my time in Da Nang, Hoi An and the trip out to ‘My Son’ later. I am keeping a pretty comprehensive journal, so no worries there. I’m just still in ‘sponge’ mode, kind of soaking up everything around me.

Vietnam isn’t nearly what I expected, having heard some unpleasant stories from other travelers. I’m glad I didn’t buy into what they said. I find the Vietnamese to be very approachable, helpful, dare I say sweet and not nearly as aggressive as I was led to expect. One note, however; most Vietnamese always ask where I am from. The younger ones always want to know more about America when they ask, but the older ones, well, the conversation doesn’t exactly die, but there is a very real reticence to talk after that. It’s palpable. So many of the people around me that are my age and older have all too vivid memories of America and they aren’t memories, or ideas and dreams of American soft-power, but those of our hard power. I’m not surprised by their reaction. And yet, they remain kind and thoughtful in the face of it all. That requires a special quality in a people and the Vietnamese do have it, although I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. . . yet.